A Lifetime
by changemeplease
Summary: "At the age of five she had unknowingly wowed a classroom with her voice". The story of Katniss and Peeta with a twist. Games still occur, just a different look on what would have happened if Katniss was more open with her heart. This is their story, their lifetime together. Slight Au/teen pregnancy [Complete].


At the age of five she had unknowingly wowed a classroom with her voice.

At age eleven she became the sole provider for her family when her father died and her mother went into catatonic shock.

At twelve Peeta Mellark saved her life by throwing her two burned loaves of bread. He saved her family, until the fateful day little Primrose Everdeen's body gave up. She was a tiny thing and even the bread could not save her from the inevitable shock of winter. She did not make it through the night.

At thirteen, she was lost. Her sister was dead, her father was dead, and her mother was worse than that fate. She met Gale while hunting and together they pulled through the winter.

In her fourteenth year, she fell pregnant.

By fifteen she had given birth to a brunette bundle of joy named after her passed sister, Primrose. Over the months she and the father worked in secret to care for the child. This cover was blown when the baker's horrible wife caught sight of the bright blue eyes of the child. She went to the Justice Building and claimed neglect. At only fifteen, with no parents she could not save her daughter from a forced adoption.

At sixteen she was alone again except for her daughter's father. No matter how difficult things got, he refused to go away, even when his mother beat him to the brink of death, he would come home to her. Together they watched from afar, the mayor raising their daughter. At the end of this year she was thrust into the Hunger Games. Along with her went little Primrose's father.

By seventeen she and he were victors. They had killed and fought their way out of the area. Neither would leave without the other. Together they were threatened by Snow and forced back into the Games. The president never bought their love story, but if he went back just two years he would see their official marriage license from two years before filed with the birth record of their bundle of joy.

By eighteen they were war heroes. With their refusal to leave each other's sides during the games they were rescued by the rebels together. In Thirteen they distanced themselves from everyone and refused to fight. They wanted nothing to do with the war. It was here they found out that their beautiful baby girl was most likely dead. Her friend Gale had told her the mayor's family refused to leave when the bombing started; but her mother was safe. Her husband had only her and her passed sister's old cat that had followed the group to Thirteen. Their friends Johanna and Finnick were captured by the Capitol and tortured for months. They were rescued while on the brink of death. Neither would ever be themselves again. When Haymitch told her Coin planned another Hunger Games she and her husband got a plan together. Together they would be the faces of the rebellion. Coin thinking she had won agreed; this would be the death of her. When Snow surrendered she was to kill him by shooting an arrow at him, instead she shot Coin. The elected president Paylor held a trial for her. Her and her husband went back to Twelve to help rebuild when found "insane".

By nineteen the districts were bustling and brand new. There was no segregation of Town or Seam. She was not seen as insane but a hero. Neither her or her husband wanted the fame; they just wanted knowledge of their lost four year old daughter. They travelled all the districts but none of the orphanages had a girl matching the description of the little girl.

At twenty her husband and her brought their friends to Twelve for a toasting renewal. Because their first was five years before and done in secret, they wanted those close to them there for the renewal. The Hawthorne family, Johanna, Finnick, Annie, and their son, Haymitch and Effie, her mother, they all came to celebrate.

At twenty five he talked her into another child. It was a boy this time, looking just like his daddy but with his mother's eyes. He was the light of their world, even if they always thought of their first child anytime he smiled.

At twenty eight she had another little boy who could pass for his brother's twin. They loved their children and vowed to tell the boys of their older sister when they were old enough.

At thirty everything changed. The old mayor's daughter came back to town with a teenage girl. She had barely escaped the bombing but protected the only family she had at the time the best she could. Madge knew she would not make it passed this year due to disease caused from the radiation of the bomb that had slowly been killing her over the years. When Madge came to town she knew exactly who she needed to see first, her adopted sister's real parents. The two girls knocked on the door to find a five year old boy with blonde curls and big dimples grinning at them. They then heard the yell from his mother telling him not to open the door to strangers. Madge and the girl went into the house to explain the last ten years. When the bombing started Madge grabbed her sister and ran for the woods. She was unaware a group was being lead to Thirteen and so stayed near the gate. Only after months did she move farther into the forest. She went much deeper than Gale or she had ever gone and so the two girls were suspected dead. They survived by rummaging, fishing, and hunting. A small cabin was found miles away from Twelve but undetected by Thirteen. When Madge started getting sick she knew it was time to return her sister home. Madge had always been honest with her sister and so the young girl knew that she was adopted but assumed her true parents were dead. Her parents knew this was their daughter but were so overwhelmed with shock they could barely think. They gave rooms in their home for the two and lived this way until Madge died in her sleep. It was difficult for the whole family to lose the strong woman.

At thirty one they wanted to tell their daughter the truth, but instead worked on getting their rights back to her. It was a difficult process because the papers were lost but they needed the documentation to prove to their not so little- little girl. They brought up adoption and she agreed easily, without Madge she believed she had nobody.

At thirty two their daughter questioned everything. The boys loved their older sister dearly and looked up to her. The girl was helping clean around the house when she found it. The two baby pictures her parents had of her. In one the three of them were all there after her mother had given birth. The other was her at the age of two. The second photo was given to her parents before the Quarter Quell. Primrose did not know she was the girl in the photos and believed she was only adopted because of her looks. She sobbed for hours until her parents explained to her. It was her father who held her as her mother stroked her hair. Through her tears she had shouted out the words, "I can't be her, I'm not her. I can't be the daughter you lost". Her parents were startled and began their tale, "Can't you see you don't have to pretend to be the little girl we lost because she grew up and she is you. We don't want the baby that was taken from us because we're looking at her. Even if you were Madge's real sister it wouldn't matter because you're our daughter and we love you no matter what".

At thirty five they had their last baby. Well their last planned baby. A little girl came this time. As though her sister was looking down on her, the baby held exact resemblance to the Primrose Everdeen their first daughter was named after. This year her mother came home from District Four. She set up and worked as the head doctor of Twelve just like she had before the war. She wanted to be involved in her grandchildren's lives the way she wasn't for her daughters.

At thirty six they had their actual last baby, except this time it was twins. She gave birth to twins, one boy who was named after his passed uncle as well and his stand-in grandfather who had stopped drinking as soon as the first boy was born, and a beautiful little girl who held the exact image of her mother.

They had been together practically their whole lives, even when they weren't official they were simply waiting on each other. They survived it all together so that at the age of forty they would watch the first baby, the one they fought to get home to as well as survived two Hunger Games and a rebellion, get married. Katniss and Peeta had lived a life nobody else could say they had done. It wasn't a fairy tale or even happily ever after but they had each other and their family. Their family was what always mattered, that was their home.


End file.
